MEGA-MEDIA DEALS: WHAT'S LEFT FOR EVERYONE ELSE?

In the wake of this week's blockbuster media mergers of
Disney and Cap Cities/ABC and Westinghouse and CBS, the
entertainment media has turned its attention this morning to the
biggest names in the industry who don't own a major network:
Turner, Seagram's/MCA, Time Warner and Viacom. As stated by
Bishop Cheen, senior analyst at Paul Kagan & Assoc.: "There's
nothing that says the big won't simply get bigger" (Alan
Goldstein, DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 8/3).
BUY, OR BE BOUGHT: In L.A., Sallie Hofmeister reports,
while GE's not-for-sale position was unchanged, "the
entertainment industry was abuzz with speculation that NBC might
soon make a deal with Turner, Time Warner or possibly others. At
the same time, some analysts were continuing to predict that
another bidder will come forward for CBS, taking it out of
Westinghouse's hands." As for NBC, the network is "now under
greater pressure than ever to pick a studio partner and to
improve its distribution reach." While GE could "swallow" a
studio, or a company such as Turner that owns a studio, a "more
likely match" would be GE and Time Warner. Other scenarios
include Turner, Time Warner and TCI combining to bid for CBS
(L.A. TIMES, 8/3).
NO WORD FROM ATLANTA: While Turner Broadcasting had no
official comment on the week's events, one unnamed Turner exec
said, "We're surveying what the world looks like today as opposed
to a week ago and looking at every option. Anything could
happen. Nothing could happen" (REUTERS/ DAILY VARIETY, 8/3).
This morning's ATLANTA CONSTITUTION has a report from BLOOMBERG
BUSINESS NEWS that Seagram's President Edgar Bronfman is seeking
to swap his stake in Time Warner in exchange for Time Warner's
stake in Turner in order to create a TCI-Turner-Seagram alliance
that could bid for a network (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 8/3). The
WALL STREET JOURNAL states that Turner's "best bet may be to
resume talks with NBC, where he was close to a deal last year,
and consider minority ownership in a combined company if he is
offered a large and powerful role in a new concern" (Landro,
Trachtenberg & Shapiro, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/3).
TIME WARNER & FRIENDS: In San Francisco, Jeff Pelline
promotes a merger between Time Warner and GE, which would be a
more than $20B deal (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/3). The WALL STREET
JOURNAL says that Seagram is likely to "link up" with
Westinghouse-CBS "down the road, possibly providing cash in
exchange for an equity stake" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/3).